Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act Of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 313, the Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act of 2015.

I introduced this bipartisan legislation in January of this year, and I am proud that it has now gained the support of over 30 Democratic and Republican Members of Congress.

I also want to thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg), for his remarks and his support of this bill. At the outset, I would also like to thank Chairman Jason Chaffetz and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings along with the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Farenthold) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly) of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee for their leadership in bringing H.R. 313 to the floor. I would also like to thank many of the veterans groups and Federal unions and workforce organizations that have joined together to endorse this legislation. They include the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and the 31 unions and member organizations that make up the Federal Postal Coalition.

Let me also commend Jennifer Hemingway of the majority staff for the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and Lena Chang of the Democratic staff for our committee for their great work on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, the Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act will address a problem faced by many wounded warriors who are transitioning to civilian life through new careers in the Federal workforce. Currently, a first-year Federal employee will begin his or her career with zero sick leave in the event of a medical event. That is because under current law, full-time Federal employees only earn 4 hours of paid sick leave for each pay period that they work.

Obviously, starting from the beginning, they will have zero balance in their sick leave bank--with a maximum of 104 hours of paid sick leave that is available per year. Nevertheless, new employees start with zero. While Federal workers are able to carry over unused annual sick leave from year to year, they begin their first year on the job with no sick leave whatsoever.

Now, this lack of initial leave for newly hired Federal workers is particularly burdensome on those employees who are also wounded warriors. These employees need to make regular visits to the VA to seek medical treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and other service-connected disabilities, and they are quickly forced to burn up any sick leave that they do accrue during their first year at a Federal agency.

Several wounded warriors who have transitioned to the Federal workforce following their tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and other assignments have highlighted this difficulty during discussions with me and my staff.

These workers reported that, without sufficient leave during their first year on the job, they were routinely faced with the difficult choice between having to take a day off work without pay or simply skipping their scheduled VA appointments altogether. Some wounded warriors reported that the closest VA facility to their job was located a 2- or 3-hour drive away.

As additionally noted by the Federal Managers Association: ``Young men and women struggle with available leave as they attempt to keep service-related, medically-necessary appointments, which puts undue stress on both managers and their Federal employees as they try to meet their Congressionally-mandated missions and goals.''

Mr. Speaker, we must afford our wounded warriors the flexibility to receive medical care as they transition to serving our Nation in a new capacity, through a Federal civilian job. The Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act would do just that.

This bill will provide first-year Federal employees who have a VA disability rating of 30 percent or greater with 104 hours of wounded warrior leave from the moment they begin their Federal workforce careers. This includes eligible new hires at our Nation's largest employer of veterans--the Defense Department--as well as the United States Postal Service.

H.R. 313 also recognizes that these dedicated Federal workers will have accumulated up to 104 hours of traditional sick leave by the end of their first year on the job. That is why the bill also provides that any unused wounded warrior leave would not carry over beyond the second year.

The Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act will also provide critical importance, given that the most recent Federal data on veterans employment indicates that Federal agencies are hiring a growing number of veterans each year. In fiscal year 2014, nearly 60,000, or 33.2 percent, of new hires at Federal agencies were veterans. That is an increase of 9.2 percent over fiscal year 2009.

With the number of our young people who have served multiple tours of duty--three, four, five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan--this is especially important. Approximately 16,000 of newly Federal employees were wounded warriors with a disability rating of 30 percent or greater.

Again, I am thankful to Mr. Chaffetz, Mr. Walberg, Mr. Cummings, and Mr. Connolly. And, also, I want to thank Mr. Tester. When we sent this bill over to the Senate looking for a cosponsor in the Senate, Senator Tester was quick to step up and take on this fight in the Senate. I want to thank him for his work on this bill in the Senate side.

In closing, I urge all our Members to vote in favor of H.R. 313.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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